Gaetano Piccini

Gaetano Piccini was a draftsperson documented as active in 1727. The surviving works attributed to the artist consist entirely of drawings, primarily focusing on exaggerated facial studies and graphic satire common in 18th-century European art.

The known body of work includes twelve drawings preserved in museum collections, confirming Piccini’s documentation within the period. These compositions characteristically feature detailed, often grotesque heads or masks, typically rendered within a precise circular format. Key examples of the artist’s output include Grotesque Head With a Large Ear and an Open Mouth Looking to the Right Within a Circle and Grotesque Winged and Bearded Head Looking to the Left within a Circle, alongside studies such as Human Mask Looking to the Left within a Circle.

These drawings, which serve as foundational examples of 18th-century graphic character study, are represented in the collections of major institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Because of the historical significance and age of the material, many high-quality prints derived from these original Gaetano Piccini prints and drawings are today accessible as public domain or downloadable artwork for researchers and collectors.